Mr. Wow Blog
How Did This Happen? I Am 61 Today. Recount! (And Not in Florida, Thank You)
9:58 pm | January 7, 2014

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 62
Hmmmmm....doctors orders say there's only one cure for me.  Surgery!

Hmmmmm….doctors orders say there’s only one cure for me. Surgery!

Comments:
  • Let me be the first to wish you a very happy birthday. 61 is only middle aged these days!

    10:16 pm | January 7, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Susan–thank you, honey.   Middle-aged, eh?  Okay.  We’ll talk on my 120th birthday.



      10:22 pm | January 7, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    B. rook this tonight.  I demand a yearly photo session.  I then carefully examine what 12 months has done. 

    There were more flattering pics, but I felt this one illustrated my general bemusement.  I totally identify with Ruth Chatterton in “Dodsworth:  “But I’m still young, Sam!”

    I’m feeling 28 today, so….I repudiate this photo!



    P.S.  If there was ever a time for President Obama to insinuate himself into a situation that is none of the Chief Executive’s  business, it’s Dennis Rodman in North Korea.   After his friend the professor and Trayvon Martin, this one should be a cinch. 

    10:20 pm | January 7, 2014
    • 28 is good!!  I am permanently 23.  Have been for a while now.

      Other people try to do the math to prove me wrong.  I tell them to blame Einstein.  He proved that time is relative.  So, just because THEY have gotten old, doesn’t mean I have to!

      1:04 am | January 10, 2014
  • Deirdre Cerasa

    Happy, Happy Birthday!!! Do you have any idea how thrilled I am that you are here to celebrate another birthday! I think you look fabulous! I do understand the picture thing; I feel 25 until I look on the mirror! I see my mother, good thing she was a sweetheart and I loved her. Can the moron known as Dennis Rodman please go away? Maybe North Korea will keep him.Stay warm and hugs to B.

    10:37 pm | January 7, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Deirdre…

      I’m thrilled to be here too!   I think about plastic surgery.  Then I think about Burt Reynolds and Kenny Rogers and–gasp!–Bruce Jenner.   I have to accept what looks back at me in the mirror.  Or what the ever-truthful camera says.  But on a clear day–mentally and physically–I can see 28 again.  I can feel it.   I’m so lucky in so many ways.

      11:42 pm | January 7, 2014
  • mary burdt

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. WOW!
    What I wouldn’t give to be sixty one again.  You look wonderful and happy.  Lots of living to do, so get on with it.  Love you,Mary

    10:56 pm | January 7, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Got a lotta livin’ to do!  Now I have change into shockingly revealing pink stretch Capri pants and pink ruffled midriff top and dance my ass off.   (Ann-Margret, “Bye, Bye Birdie.”)

      Love you, Mary.

      11:45 pm | January 7, 2014
  • Mimi

    Happy Birthday, Mr Wow. I am 65 and have only recently started to admit to middle age. My family is long lived, my mother’s aunt recently died at 100. Who knows how I’ll feel in 30 years. You look wonderful. Plastic surgery unfortunately makes people look plastic! 
    Love, Mimi

    11:59 pm | January 7, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mimi…I’m waiting for 65 now.  The round and middle birthdays are always better–more significant!

      11:48 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Jamie

    Happy Birthday, Mr. Wow!When it’s my daughter’s birthday, the whole month shuts down and becomes her Birthday Month.I’m allowing the same for you. Celebrate your 61 years. You’ve (so far) lived a very interesting, fun and hard won life, so again, celebrate.I hereby anoint the month of January to be called Mr. Wow Month. (I’m also born in January, but I am bestowing the honor to you)And as they say, 61 is the new 41. You look Mahvelous.Happy Birthday.

    6:58 am | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Jamie–I have the whole month?  Cool.  Hmmmm..what will I do?

      11:50 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Rho

    Happy Birthday, here’s to many more. 

    9:25 am | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rho…


      Thank you, honey.   How are you?  (Give me a hint other than “fine.”–I  know other stuff is happening.  Here is the place to unload. )   Happy New Year.

      11:57 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

    Fran Dodsworth: I hope I look as good as you do when I’m your age.

    Mrs. Edith Cortright: You’re almost sure to, my dear.

    10:52 am | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dr. Sugar!–I was just waiting for that.   You know my mind.  “Who are you?  What are you?  They say it all started when you got here!!!”


      Ooops, sorry.  “The Birds” slipped in.

      11:38 pm | January 8, 2014
      • Mr. Wow

        Edith: “My dear, you’re so lovely. Don’t.”

        11:59 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Susan

    Happy Birthday! So glad you were born!
    Great picture….you’re the bomb!  

    11:25 am | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Susan…”the bomb?”   Yeah, like over Hiroshima!


      I haven’t been a hot bomb for some time.  BUT…ah, yes, I remember it well.

      11:52 pm | January 8, 2014
  • TheRudeDog

    Well, look at you! All shiny and not-quite-new (I think Gently and Lovingly Used is always better)!

    “Bemusement” is the perfect word!  I’m 67, seem to be acting more the idiot every day and absolutely view everything through bemused glasses.  Lots of things still piss me off but I seldom really care enough to lash out.  I’m generally … bemused.

    And speaking of Bruce Jenner … you’re pretty much in the catbird seat on that one.  Just think of how horrific it would have been to be married to Kris for all those years!

    All the very, very best birthday wishes to you!  Mr W., you gotta know how highly we regard you!  🙂

    11:54 am | January 8, 2014
    • lulu

      I am so surprised to see you!!!! I miss my favorite ‘dog’!!!

      9:33 pm | January 8, 2014
      • mary burdt

        And I miss all of you who shared a trip to find Mr. WoW in Hoboken.  I remember vividly Rude Dog sitting on Lulu’s lap through much of our journey to the East Coast.  A fun time was had by all.Maybe it is time to organize another virtual get together.  Love to all.

        9:44 pm | January 8, 2014
        • Mr. Wow

          Speaking of missing–does anybody know where Baby Snooks is?  I feel very connected and protective of ALL of you!

          11:46 pm | January 8, 2014
          • mary burdt

            Do you know any way we can find out about Baby Snooks?  I miss her postings very much.  Let us know when you know something.  I am very concerned.

            12:14 am | January 9, 2014
          • BabySnooks

            I just saw this. You are awfully sweet. I didn’t know that anyone actually missed me. Keep it up and I may move to Hoboken!

            9:42 pm | January 23, 2014
        • TheRudeDog

          Aw, thanks Lu and Mary — I’m smiling! That was a fun trip, wasn’t it?  So much ENTHUSIASM!!!!

          3:03 pm | January 9, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rude…”gently and lovingly used?”    WELL!    I guess you know me. 


      Kris Jenner.  Come on, the worst in every way.  I’d like to send her away. Alive, but away.

      11:55 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Kemh

    Happy Birthday, Mr. Wow!
    Don’t do plastic surgery…You look amazing as you are!!

    12:07 pm | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Kemh…I try to avoid every street I know a plastic surgeon lurks.

      11:45 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Haunted Lady

    A very happy birthday to you. You have a wonderful face and an enchanting smile, bemused or otherwise. Please don’t mess it up with plastic surgery.

    I’m a couple weeks from 65 but I’m not aging or getting old. I’m becoming a fine antique and I believe you are, too.

    1:24 pm | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Haunted One…I talk about it. I think about it. (especially in the morning)  But unless my eyelids drop to my chin (s) I’ll keep this ole face. 


      BUT..I just read about an amazing new “filler” today on the Huffington Post.

      11:43 pm | January 8, 2014
    • Happy early birthday to you, too, Haunted!

      1:17 am | January 10, 2014
  • lulu

    Happy Birthday!!! The best is yet to come and it will be grand!!!

    9:35 pm | January 8, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lulu…the best is yet to come and babe won’t it be fine…


      Thank you Lulu and Mr. Sinatra.

      11:40 pm | January 8, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    Mitch Brenner: Well, uh, these are for my sister, for her birthday, see, and uh, as she’s only gonna be eleven, I, I wouldn’t want a pair of birds that were… too demonstrative.

    Melanie Daniels: I understand completely.

    Mitch Brenner: At the same time, I wouldn’t want them to be too aloof, either.

    Melanie Daniels: No, of course not.

    Mitch Brenner: Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are… just friendly?

    12:25 am | January 9, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dr. Sugar–you are killing me.


      Tippi was such a terrible actress but so perfect for “The Birds” and “Marnie.”  (I am not impressed by her tales of Hitch abuse, sorry.)

      I love the sexual tension in the scenes between Tippi and Suzanne Pleshette.  Yeah, Suzanne is supposed to be pining for Rod Taylor (who wouldn’t?)  But everything about her stance and delivery suggests she’d rather discuss seagulls with Miss Hedren.

      12:40 am | January 9, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    Annie Hayworth: Did you drive up from San Francisco by the coast road?

    Melanie Daniels: Yes.

    Annie Hayworth: Nice drive.

    Melanie Daniels: It’s very beautiful.

    Annie Hayworth: Is that where you met Mitch?

    Melanie Daniels: Yes.

    Annie Hayworth: I guess that’s where everyone meets Mitch.

    4:11 am | January 9, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    8:07 pm | January 9, 2014
  • Toni Herrick

    I too have a birthday this month (67). My mother who is 93 never dreamed she would have such “old” children! My brother is 71. Cheers to you.

    11:01 am | January 10, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Toni–thank you so much!

      9:21 pm | January 10, 2014
  • bigred52

    Happy Birthday, Mr Wow – for one month we are the same age.  I’ve already applied for Social Security since I will be 62 on the 21st of February.  Not taking any chances in case Congress and the President (whoever it may be) decide to change the rules!   Enjoy your special day.  Hugs/

    2:30 pm | January 10, 2014
    • Red, doesn’t that reduce the amount of the payment?  And of your overall benefit value in the long term?

      I worry that by the time I get old enough to apply, they will means-test… OR tell Hubby and me that we can’t collect because we have military pensions.

      Even now, one’s military pension is reduced by the same amount of disability one collects from VA. 

      But… the benefits of serving in Congress, now, that is untouchable…

      2:37 pm | January 10, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Big (and Lila)

      Thanks for the birthday wishes and am with you, BigR.  I intend also to take an early “retirement.”  I mean, those of you who know my story, know that for all intents and purposes (that means $) I am retired already.   I hang on out of real sense of loyalty and affection and also it does keep me reasonably engaged in life.  But I have no burning desire to “make my own name” when my current position ends–however it ends.   Like Big, I am concerned about waiting too long.  It won’t be a lot, but I don’t require a lot. 

      B. has been the smart and responsible one.  For both of us. 

      9:27 pm | January 10, 2014
  • Lucy

    Happy Belated Birthday Mr Wow –
    Plastic surgery? Are you kidding me? You look about 15 years younger than your age – seriously! I am NOT just saying that. Your skin is gorgeous – what do you use? As for fillers, I think the idea of plumping up everything – lips & cheeks – in order to look permanently infantile = a babies round cooing face – is repulsive. Give me a thin face complete with hollows – so I know the man suffered – that’s the look I go for. Those chipmunk cheeks are just that – for chipmunks. On a separate subject – why don’t you have any sympathy for Tippy’s stories about Hitchcock? If I were locked in a room with birds repeatedly pecking at me, I’d sue his pants off – or end up in a mental institution. Wasn’t that a true story? Also, to have someone as physically gross as Hitchcock slobbering all over you, wouldn’t be exactly thrilling either. Even though, he is my favorite director of all time, and 2 of hiss movies are in my top 10 ten list. He may have been brilliant, but I bet he was a nightmare to work with or I guess I should say, for.

    5:23 pm | January 10, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lucy…

      Nah…I’ll leave the ole face as it is.  However, I wouldn’t count out a little “lift” to the tip of my nose.  It’s always been broad and, well–not delicate.  Age increases those flaws.  If I could have it done without affecting the way I look from the front–the too obvious nostril thing.  But, I sure don’t have the $ for such a procedure, and at this point does it matter how I look in profile?     (I actually sent B. a photo taken of me next to a mirror. I didn’t realize I’d also be in profile. I doctored the tip of my nose and said, “It looks better, right?” He hasn’t responded. This is either a good or bad thing!)

      I moisturize around the eye and neck–have since I was 15.  The neck, however, is just a bitch. The real give-away! Also using lemon juice right now for my periodic acne break-outs.  I hate being on the anti-biotic year after year.  Not healthy, I think.  Lemon juice works, by the way.

      As for Tippi,  the pecking birds story she told a long time ago.  But she must have considered the pain worth it since she agreed to appear in “Marnie” after that.  Miss Hedren was a good-looking, odd-looking woman with a bad voice and very little talent.  That said, I love both “The Birds” and “Marnie” and think her strangeness is perfect for both films.    Her tales of his sexual harassment are not confirmed by anybody else.   She waited until every Hitchcock associate was dead to tell these tales and cooperated with the bad HBO movie about her ordeal.   She blames Hitch for “ruining” her career.  Critics of the time didn’t think she was taking the world by storm, and the world barely noticed when she slipped into a few B-movies and then concentrated on her real passion–preserving endangered wildlife.

      She’s had a very good life (became lovelier as a woman in her 40s and 50s) raised a daughter–Melanie Griffith–who is  marginally more talented than she was.   I don’t find the point of her “revelations.”  She can’t prove them.  Hitch will always be one of the great directors of our time, and she will always be the oddly compelling heroine of two of his most praised/damned/controversial films.     She wouldn’t be save for Hitch, and as she hasn’t (yet) claimed he raped her,  those uncomfortable months on movie sets seem to a small price to pay for movie immortality.

      9:20 pm | January 10, 2014
      • rick gould

        Mr. W–My sentiments regarding Tippi, exactly. Don’t you love how the media just takes Hedren’s “revelations” as fact? 
        Have you ever noticed how similar Tippi’s “remembering” monologue at the end of “Marnie” is similar to Elizabeth Taylor’s as to what happened “Suddenly, Last Summer”? Whereas Liz is wildly emotional, Tippi sounds like a slightly dim child trying to recite the alphabet!
        Tippi was no Elizabeth Taylor or Grace Kelly, whom she was groomed after, either!

        8:14 pm | January 12, 2014
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Rick…thanks.  I don’t mean to be mean, but…it was 50-something years ago!   Tippi had such a flat “affect.”  Still, as I said, she was perfect for both Hitchcock films.

          I’ve sometimes thought–please don’t laugh–that if Hitch was not so turned off by Monroe’s flamboyant sexual image, she might have been quite perfect for “Marnie.” She had developed a sleek look the last two years of her life, and in Bert Stern’s fashion shots she was definitely working her inner Grace Kelly. (Before she stripped.)

          And the character was so neurotic; something MM could have gotten her Methody teeth into.  She would have been a fine Blanche DuBois, too.


          11:42 pm | January 12, 2014
          • rick gould

            Mr. WoW-I’ve always thought Marilyn would have been a great Blanche DuBois or Alexandra Del Lago.Or a sexy and funny Mrs. Robinson…it would have been a great segue from still being sexy to showing some character and age…and leaving the sexy kitten behind.

            11:49 pm | January 12, 2014
  • rick gould

    Hey Mr. WoW, Happy Belated Birthday! 
    You’re looking good and I hope you’re feeling good…
    Big hug,Rick

    8:12 pm | January 10, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rick…


      Thanks!   Are we all set for the Golden Globes?

      8:58 pm | January 10, 2014
  • Lucy

    Re: Tippi & Tippy’s for good skin
    Thanks for your lengthy explanation about my Tippi question. See that’s another reason you are so invaluable, you know the real scoop, not just the hype.  I would have to say, after reading your reply, I agree with you. Maybe for immortal fame I “would” let a few birds peck at  me.Who knew – lemon juice could produce such GORGEOUS results.

    5:10 pm | January 11, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Be careful w lemon juice. It can sting and irritate. But I’m a tough old bird.

    5:50 pm | January 11, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Charlize Theron and Sean Penn, now an item. 

    She is a lovely woman, and an actress with talent and old-style glamour. (Very earthy and funny in “real” life.)   He is a terrific actor.  His work in Haiti is admirable, probably. (No fault of his, but why do I think $ spent helping Haiti’s impoverished,  doesn’t get to where it belongs?)  He has a temper.

    Perhaps it is just a casual fling.  Penn certainly has what it takes for a girl to enjoy a casual fling.   Madonna was impressed enough to marry him.

    2:01 pm | January 12, 2014
    • mary burdt

      Charlene and Sean, together, interesting.  She is a living doll but Sean Penn is not appealing to me at all,. His “woe is me,” looks are a turn-off.  A fine actor, yes, but too moody for Theron.  It probably is just a fling, but, who knows, maybe it’s love.

      2:22 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    Mr. Wow, now that Charlize is otherwise engaged, if you care for me at all, you will give Stuart Townsend my address.

    2:55 pm | January 12, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr.Sugar…

      I am afraid Mr. Townsend is already spoken for.  That is, I’ll speak for him.  He adores me and as much as I like to share my toys…uh, no. 

      3:36 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    3:04 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    My Dear Mr. Wow, 
    Apparently, no one has told you that charity begins at homo.

    3:50 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Dr. Sugar–as my friend Oscar Wilde said:  “Charity creates a multitude of sins.”

    I don’t want to create a sin! dear doctor.  After all that I have put poor Aunt Violet through.

    4:57 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    “Oh, Sebastian, what a lovely summer it’s been. Just the two of us. Sebastian and Violet. Violet and Sebastian. Just the way it’s always going to be. Oh, we are lucky, my darling, to have one another and need no one else ever.”

    5:38 pm | January 12, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Up, goes the elevator!  One of the great exits of all time.  I’m sure Vi was a hell of a good time, unless she wanted you lobotomized!

    5:42 pm | January 12, 2014
  • BabySnooks

    Happy belated birthday! You don’t look 61. Which is more than I will be able to say in about a month. But I’ve had a hard life. Wait, you’ve had a hard life too. Maybe it’s the lemon treatment. I may try that. I’ve tried everything else. 

    10:43 am | January 21, 2014
  • Leave a Reply to Susan Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *